Stanley Mitchell Hut (April 2003)
Our stay at this hut was after a difficult ski traverse from Mons to Mummery (link here).
After a rest day in Golden, Mike Anderson left and Robbie Nachtwey’s brother James joined Katie Larson, Bob Portmann, and me for four nights at the Stanley Mitchell Hut. After a horrible breakfast at Humpty’s, we headed east and left the car at 8:30 a.m. James found a down parka in the first mile! The trip in was straightforward—we used half-skins for the whole thing, including the steep section to the hut. Packs were noticeably lighter than on the traverse. I think mine was 48 pounds, though others’ were heavier. We hammered away and got to the hut in eight hours. A party of five was there, led by Pat Bates of Kimberley. And there was a dog with the group, which irritated me a little (allergy), though he was well behaved and pleasant.
The hut itself is magnificent. Built in 1939, it wears its age well. It would be crowded with 20, but is no problem with 9, and we had it to ourselves for our last two days.
The next day (Tuesday) we skied to the President/Vice-President Col and had a good ski run down. Then we climbed it again, and I really lagged on that ascent. Katie and I returned to the hut, and the other three went up almost to the col for a third run. A lot of time is spent waiting for visibility before skiing down.
Wednesday we went to Isolated Col, but had no visibility so could not ski down the other side. So we backtracked and went up 1000 feet towards Mt. McArthur. We skied down, and then the group decided to go back up and try for McArthur. I was tired of waiting for vis in the wind and snow, and headed back to camp where I amused myself restocking and splitting wood, gathering water from the creek, etc. The group did make the summit in zero vis and came back down the same way.
Next day: Slightly better vis and we climbed McArthur from the south by a route that we heard was good. Indeed, it was a great ascent and visibility opened up nicely for us on descent. By 1:30 we were at the bottom. For a second run we headed to Emerald Pass. We went a bit too high and had to descend 200 feet to get back to the main glacier. Then up to the pass. Low vis. Still, we headed back left and up to check out the snow on the big face of the President. Bob led up to a nice high point on a 40+˚ degree snow slope; stability seemed good. But then several bad things happened. Visibility went from bad to none. Hard snowfall started. Robbie’s binding broke irreparably just as we started to de-skin, and Katie and the others felt their skis buzzing. We had to descend in a hurry. We rushed and started down, Robbie on one ski. He was very impressive during the trip back to the hut, skiing on one ski only. His natural athleticism and strength helped a lot here. I could not have done that.
We found the descent gully (which we had not ascended, though we should have) and it provided a wonderful route down. Whew.
I had a spare cable that just happened to fit the Rottefella binding, and that and some baling wire and other spare parts Robbie had got the job done. The hook that connects the spring to the toe piece had broken (with a piece jammed). Margaritas at night.
Friday: We ski once again to the President/Vice-President col, once again wait for vis, which never really comes. On return to the hut we find three Idahoans who had just come over from Bow Hut, spending the night in the snow in the Yoho River. They appreciated the leftover Jamison Irish Whiskey that we gave them! The descent on the steep trail was exciting, and the long flat road out was, well, long and flat. Some of us managed the whole thing without ever using half-skins, others used the skins for some of the climbs. Total time for exit was four hours.
Then James and I raced to Calgary to get some sleep before very early flights, while the rest stayed for one more ski day.
